05/01/2020
NOTICE TO MY DENTAL PATIENTS / CORONAVIRUS
Dear patients,
First and foremost, I hope you and yours are well. The economic and emotional consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are hard to measure now, but it has been difficult. At a personal level, beyond the closure of the office, my sister in law spent a week at the hospital with coronavirus, while my fifteen years old son is still in Spain, once of the world’s most affected places. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
I want to share with you the steps we are taking moving forward to protect YOU, as well as ourselves and the community. Needless to say, this will be a dynamic process. I’m sure we’ll need to reshape this protocol as we learn what works best for all involved, and until we find proven effective vaccines, treatment and diagnostic tests.
If you know me, you know that 1) I closely track the available scientific data, and when data isn’t available, I’ll follow what appears to be, from scientific extrapolation, the best available option, and 2) that every step we take has the patient at the center of our decisions. Our sources include the American Dental Association, the Oregon Board of Dentistry, the Center for Disease Control, the Oregon Dental Association, The Oregon Health Authority, The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, The World Health Organization, and most important, the available scientific data I gather from professional medical journals, as well as information I gather from colleagues and my wife, who is a local ICU physician.
The following measures are effective May4th-June1st.
WHY?
1. Dentistry is a high-risk environment.
2. There are still governmental rules in place with respect to dentistry.
3. There is a significant amount of unknown.
4. What we do now may greatly affect what happens this upcoming Fall.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
1. On the bright side, you’ll notice we remodeled the office during our time away. Coronavirus in mind. The carpet is gone, the front desk has a sneeze guard for our admin staff, we have UV air purifiers all over the place.... the list goes on.
2. For now, no magazines, or water fountain; sorry.
3. Our door will be locked at all times to avoid walks ins. To come in knock or call.
4. We purchased a phone system that allows great communication between us and you. Take advantage of it.
5. We are waiting for a new suction system to arrive, which eliminates most of the aerosol produced by the high-speed drill. Until that system arrives, we will use the drill minimally if any, and will postpone non-urgent procedures that require the drill.
6. You’ll notice that we are using more protective gear than we did in the past.
7. You’ll notice our staff will be wiping around with disinfectant, in between patients.
8. While it isn’t proven yet, we’ll ask you to rinse with a solution of water and Chlorohexidine (a stronger Listerine) to potentially reduce viral load in saliva.
9. Our staff is eating lunches while keeping social distancing.
10. For now, and until June 1st, we are not using the ultrasonic device for hygiene at all.
11. We typically have 4 providers at the office. Dr. Clemens, Dr. Lee, our hygienist and myself. In the past, sometimes we had 3 of us working at the same time. We’ll have no more than 2 providers working at a given time, and will make an effort so there is only one provider per day. Likewise, we will not double book appointments.
12. Furthermore, our hygienist Zora has moved on. She resigned to her position due to personal reasons. I’ve decided I’ll do cleaning by myself.
13. We are allowing 15 minutes extra for each procedure we schedule to avoid patient’s accumulation at the front area.
14. There are certain procedures we are postponing. For example, if you have healthy teeth and only come for cleanings, we may postpone your cleaning for a while (unless you want it)—not the case if, for example, you have gum disease. In other words, we are not pushing patients to come. Instead, we are going by patient’s needs. But be reassure, we will see you for any dental need you have.
THINGS WE ASK YOU TO DO
1. When confirming your appointment, and/or upon arrival, you will be asked certain questions regarding coronavirus (screening process) to make sure it is safe to see you. We want to make sure you, or any member of your household have had not travelled, or have any symptoms in the past 2 weeks.
2. Please bring a mask, if you don’t have one, please bring whatever can serve as one.
3. Upon arrival, please call our office so we know you arrived, but stay outside. A member of our team will go and get you when we are ready for you, and will take your temperature. If it is over 100.4 you will be sent home. If you show any suspicious symptoms, you will be sent home.
4. Please bring your own pen to sign forms.
5. Please do not bring family members, rides, etc., with you. They can wait outside.
6. Please maintain social distancing while in the waiting room.
7. Please spend as little time as possible at the waiting room. When we can, we will have you sign forms and make payments outside the office, by phone or mail.
8. If you need pillows, blankets or both to be comfortable in our chair, we ask that for now, you bring your own.
9. Upon arrival, a staff member will take your temperature. If it is over 100.4, you will be sent home.
10. You are welcome to use our bathroom, but please use the bathroom before you leave your house.
Do you have any questions?
Feel free to call me. I once again want to thank you for trusting me to care for you.
Yours truly,
Alberto.